In October 2008, the Western Bulldogs announced that they had signed two Fijian teenagers to the International Scholarship scheme. Inoke Ratu then 19, and Solomon Loki then 16 had impressed at trials conducted in Lavaca and Suva. Alas, Fijitimes reported recently that after 2 years, that the Bulldogs have declined to extend their ‘contracts’.

Australian physical education teacher Warwick Kain, formed a footy team a couple of months ago, and after a few practices and a game against some University of Otago students, has made the 4 hour trip to Christchurch and defeated the growing stronghold of schoolboy footy in Canterbury, St Bede’s School. Not only that, but 6 of the team have made the NZ U 16 team and are off to Tonga!

In preparation for the upcoming Oceania Cup (Youth) to be held in Tonga in December, and after the David Rodan Cup, Fiji has named a pretty large 39 member squad.

The squad is as follows :

We've seen the inaugural European Championships, and each year North America has the US versus Canada. Now a senior Oceania Cup will be played in Auckland from November 12th to November 17th. Hosts the New Zealand Hawks will play against the inexperienced Tonga, traditional footy rivals Papua New Guinea and an exciting Oceania Allstars team.

New Zealand's initial selections for the Oceania Cup took place in September 2009 shortly after the Senior National Provincial Championships held in Auckland - part of long and steady build up to the tournament.

The Victorian Amateur Football Association U18s touring side were successful in retaining the Trans Tasman Challenge in a repeat performance from last year’s inaugural event.

The standard was a step up from last year’s clashes and progression was evident, particularly through the Under 20 National Provincial Championships, which are now part of the New Zealand football calendar every March.

The NZ Hawks Under 20 team contained four players who have graduated from Under 16 ranks including Hawthorn signing, and Trent Croad Scholarship holder, Kurt Heatherley.

Hawthorn Football Club has recently held talent testing days in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. Athletes have been invited to attend as a result of school visits and the Hawks Cup Secondary School competitions.

Hawthorn FC had Graham Wright (East Coast Recruiting Manager) and Chris Pelchen (General Manager Player Personnel and Strategy) in attendance whilst Andrew Crighton, Secondary School and Talent Identification Officer for AFL New Zealand, was at all venues.

For those wondering what an initial screening such as this comprises here is a run down for each of the NZ sessions:-

The Canterbury Cobras have won New Zealand's Senior National Provincial Championships (NPC) for the first time in the League’s history.

The tournament was played at Westminster Park Christchurch on the 23/24 October. The competition was blessed with brilliant weather and four committed teams battling out national honours. Early results on Saturday and Sunday resulted in the Canterbury and Auckland match providing the tournament winner.

Further to our story David Rodan Cup 2010 run and won, AFL Asia Pacific manager Andrew Cadzow has advised that even more players than anticipated turned up to the Fijian tournament, with 130 players spread across 8 teams. Cadzow predicts, "They will be strong at the Oceania Cup (youth) and look very likely to be in a good position for a senior squad (for the International Cup) next year". In fact as many as 168 boys registered, from across 29 schools, with the event supported by the Rodan family, Sportsworld, Coca-Cola, the Fiji Police Band, and numerous locals who helped out such as providing lunch for all the players.

Below are photos by Dallas Swinstead, by permission of the Fiji Times, and Dylan Wolfgramm, with thanks to Dr Robert Wolfgramm.

The following is a 2010 update on Aussie Rules progress in Otago, in the south of New Zealand's south island, one of football's frontier regions. Courtesy of Nathan Rose.

Greetings from the deep south!

The Otago Aussie Rules scene has experienced steady growth since its inception in late 2007. Our biggest challenge is in finding opposition – as the Otago ‘Riot’ is the only organised team based in Dunedin, our guys are forced to do a lot of travel to get a game. We are currently exploring options for regular football, including inclusion in the Canterbury AFL, or forming new teams in Dunedin, as the current situation means we only play on occasional weekends against willing opponents on an ad-hoc basis – although, as any of the players will tell you, the road trips are a lot of fun!

The 2010 David Rodan Cup for Secondary Schools took place on Saturday October 23. http://FijiLive.com reports that the ‘Hawks’ squad won the event. However, as per the link the Grand Final score is written as Tigers 48-12 Hawks. However I’m assuming that to be a typo.